SWAMI KRISHNANANDA : THE REALISATION OF THE ABSOLUTE | TROTA | Brahman is not a process or a collection of many particulars , not a multitude of many finites . No amount of accumulation of relatives , however vast that may be , can make up the Absolute . An aggregate of finites can give us a huge mass of finites , but not the Infinite — spatial immensity or vastness is not infinitude . The Absolute transcends all finites , but includes everyone of them . It does not become . It is . Becoming is not completeness of existence , whereas perfect Being implies Fullness .

There can be no other meaning in life's activities than the attempt at the acquisition of happiness in some way or the other , whatever be the quantity or the quality of the happiness derived .

In fact , happiness has no differences , and , if at all any degree is felt in its experience , it is because of the degrees and differences present in the means made use of for the purpose of obtaining it , and not due to differences existent in happiness itself .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0411 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

The light and heat of fire differ due to the differences among the media through which it burns .

Happiness is generally , though not always , experienced in this world as the result of the contact of the mind or the senses with certain pleasant objects or states .

No object or state can , in fact , be pleasant in itself .

If so , the same thing should rouse the same kind of love in every being .

This , however , is not a fact .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0412 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

The same thing can stimulate love or hatred in different beings .

One may be a friend of one person and at the same time the enemy of another .

Worms are seen to revel even in pungent and poisonous fruits .

The same object can appear as having different natures even to the same person in different conditions .

The view that anything is pleasant by itself is incorrect .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0413 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

Then what is happiness , where is happiness ?

If happiness is commonly experienced through the contact of the subject with the object , and , if happiness cannot be the nature of the object in itself , it must be the nature of either the subject or the process of contact .

The process of contact is not self-existent , but is a mode of thought expressed by the subject of knowledge itself .

Hence , happiness must belong to the subject alone .

But , then , why is contact necessary for rousing the happiness present in the subject ?

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0414 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

The truth is that when a subject imagines or is looking at an object of love and comes in contact with it , it is really imagining , looking at or experiencing the form taken by the expression of its own want or desire which has pervaded that object of cognition or perception .

It is the desire of the subject that shines and is attractive in the object .

Beauty is in the beholder .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0415 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

When the subject contacts the desirable object , it only rejoices over its own desires , identifies itself with these desires , and consequently , for a while , the desires cease to function , they being in union with the subject due to the feeling of satisfaction on account of the notion that the desired object has been possessed .

As there is consciousness already in the subject , it has then a temporary consciousness of the absence of desires , of the identity of the objective process of thought knowing the object , with itself .

When thought rests in the subjective consciousness , the subject is simply conscious of itself , to the exclusion of everything , even the desires .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0416 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

But this is a very quick process , a momentary experience of an extremely short duration , because , here , the desires are not destroyed but only withheld .

When an object of desire is enjoyed , there is a lightning-like feeling of independence or freedom from externals , since the pain of the feeling of dependence on the object desired for is removed through obtaining it .

When a person looks at any object , one does not really look at the object , but at the conception or the notion which one has of that object .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0417 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

As far as a person is concerned , an object is not truly an object , but a mode which the cognising consciousness has taken in its indivisible nature ; and because this mode is inseparable from the consciousness of the subject , it is best loved , loved as the Self , when the form of the object stands to it as a correct correlative fulfilling its wants , or hated when its form is the opposite .

This is why certain objects appear very dear .

Like a dog that barks at its own reflection seen in a mirror , a person develops a particular attitude towards something in accordance with the idea which one has of that thing .

One cannot think of anything except in terms of one's wishes and notions .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0418 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

If there is no desire for something , there can be no happiness derived from that thing .

When desires are withdrawn , objects stand as they are .

But as long as one has even a single desire , it is not possible for one to know what an object is really in itself .

The mind with a desire is like a coloured glass through which we can look at an object as having only that colour and nothing else .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0419 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

The happiness experienced by us is , therefore , the experience of the cessation of desire , though it may be temporary .

But contacts with objects only increase pain , as , thereby , the foolish belief that objects bring pleasure is again strengthened , and as each contact creates a further desire to repeat the effort for more such contacts .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0420 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

Happiness is the nature of the Self without desires , and every desire increases pain by a degree of intensity equal to , if not more than , that of itself .

Moreover , the love of the Self is the basis of all other loves .

One loves another , because one loves the Self the most .

The ultimate purpose of all loves is to rest in the satisfaction of one's own Self .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0421 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

Perception and contact act as agencies in lifting up the veil of subjective desire covering the external objects .

Hence , the motive behind conceptual and perceptual contacts is not so much to obtain anything from the object as such , as to make it an instrument in lifting up the veil in the mind , a purely selfish process which the individual subject tries to get effected thereby .

Conception or perception is , in a way , an effort to exhaust a desire , though , because of the glaring error therein , it may give rise to another desire .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0422 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

Contact is , therefore , not a method of acquiring happiness , but a means of getting freed from the pain of desiring , and thus making the Self experience itself indirectly .

But even this temporary experience of happiness due to contact should not be mistaken for even a jot of true Self-Bliss , for in contact the desires are not destroyed , and this happiness experienced through contact is only a reflection of Self-Bliss through the material quality of sattva .

Contact is only a stimulus to sattva-guna , which alone can reflect happiness .

Sense-contact is a crude method of fulfilling desire born of deluded perception , and it can never bring to the experiencer the real bliss which one is hankering after .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0423 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

None really loves anything for its own sake , for nothing in the universe has a true objective value that is valid for all times .

All values proceed from the Self , and subsist in the Self .

The Self alone is the ultimate and infinite value in all things .

Careful analysis will reveal that all contacts have their meaning in Self-satisfaction .

Self-satisfaction in its individual signification is only an apparent pleasure and is a delusion caused by the functions of the modes of thought .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0424 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

Even mental satisfaction brought about through the avenues of the senses is not the end aimed at through the mind and the senses .

No one is permanently satisfied through an objective process .

The self of the human hungers for eternal satisfaction but it gets a cup of poison which it finds in darkness and then drinks , being deprived of the proper vision with which to behold the true nature of things .

No one would consciously drink poison even when one is hungry .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0425 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

It is not the intention of the Self to be satisfied with deceitful mirages , but it suffers on account of lack of knowledge .

It is easily misled by the tantalising appearances of life .

In fact the self loves only the highest Essential Existence , which it wants to realise as one with itself , but it cannot discover this Existence amidst the clamour of the senses , the caprices of the mind , and the colour and the noise of objects of the world .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0426 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

The love of the Self is unsurpassed .

Even suicide that is committed only goes to prove the supreme love that is evinced in regard to the Self , for it is due to disgust for some conditions of life , and not on account of hatred for the Self , that such an act is perpetrated .

Suicide is the effect of some tormenting type of objective contact , a corroding attachment to a certain phenomenon , an unfulfilled objective , or an unattained relative end .

Even disgust for one's life is only a dissatisfaction with a particular state of life , an unpleasant experience in life , and not with life itself .

None feels from one's heart that one should absolutely cease to exist .

Everyone wishes to enjoy an eternal life of perennial bliss .

A painful life is detested and a pleasant one is coveted .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0427 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

The love of the immortal bliss to be experienced as identical with the Self is unconditioned .

It can have no match .

Even when no objects exist , this Self-love does not suffer any diminution .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0428 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

In deep sleep , when no objects are experienced , the happiness of the Self remains the same .

One would reject even the dearest object for the sake of the happiness of deep sleep .

Even a vast rulerdom is nothing when sleep supervenes .

The happiness of deep sleep where there is no contact is greater than the pleasure derived through sense-contact .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0429 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

There are occasions when one feels that one is fed up with everything , and gets disgusted even with the dearest of possessions .

The freedom and joy experienced at that time is greater than the semblance of satisfaction felt during attachment to and love for objects .

All this suggests that the centre of happiness is , in the end , the Absolute Self .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0430 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

What joy one obtains in ordinary life is only a distorted reflection of Self-Bliss through the mind , and hence it is inconstant and never satisfying .

No doubt , the happiness of deep sleep is not reflected through any psychosis allowing intelligence therein , but it is because of the absence of consciousness in deep sleep that its value is not realised .

The mind , in its unmanifested condition , exists in deep sleep and obstructs the manifestation of bliss illumined by consciousness .

TROTA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL0431 | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

The annihilation of the stuff of the thinking process , both in its developed and undeveloped stages , is what is necessary for the realisation of Eternal Bliss .

This Bliss is experienced in the Self itself , and not anywhere else .

As the Self is absolute in its nature , the Bliss of the Self , also , is absolute .

" Hammer on ! hammer on ! " is the first principle of success . Without work you can never succeed . A lazy person is bound to perish in the " struggle for existence " , one cannot live , one must die .

Rise to the GOD-Consciousness to such a degree that for you your past relations may become a complete blank . . . Your relation to the world should become the relation of GOD to the world ; an entire change .

From one point of view , mind and intellect are not Brahman ; but on the other hand , mind and intellect are nothing else but Brahman , even the body is nothing else but Brahman , and Everything in the world is nothing else but Brahman .

Can you transfer your consciousness ? Put it here , your consciousness should sit here . Can it sit here ? Now it is inside your body . It is operating through the body and you are seeing through the aperture of your eyes and then perceiving a person like me here .

Immanuel Kant is said to have been woken up by Hume from " dogmatic slumber " and brought about a " Copernican revolution " in the field of philosophy . In Kant we begin to reap the ripe fruits of philosophy , for it is here that it shows signs of its having reached maturity and full development .

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PRABODHASUDHAKARA | THE NECTAR OCEAN OF ENLIGHTENMENT | PART 2 | DEVOTION | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA | TRANSLATION & BHASYA BY SAMVID | PSNOE SERIES || The devotional fervour which the author exhibits in the four concluding sections of this work would appear to be in sharp contrast with the author's relentless pursuit of truth through rational enquiry , found in the earlier sections .

I am composing the Atmabodha , or Self-Knowledge , to serve the needs of those who have been purified through the practice of austerities, and who are peaceful in heart , free from cravings , and desirous of Liberation .

One who has one's mind Self-absorbed through Yoga , and who has the vision of sameness everywhere , sees this Self existing in everything , and everything in one's Self . | One who sees Me in everything , and sees all things in Me — I do not go out of one's vision , and one also is not lost to My vision .

Some minds with too much self reliance in themselves , and without considering the true nature of things , give them different forms and colours , according to their own conceptions and opinions , though far from truth .

VOL 1 | BOOK II | CHAP XVII | VERSE 10 | ON THE CONTENTS OF THE WORK | IT CONTAINS SIX BOOKS all fraught with sentences full of reason , and each distinct from the other in its import . It has many verses containing chosen examples on all subjects .

DANGEROUS HABIT OF CONSTANT SELF JUSTIFICATION | To go on claiming this so-called freedom , which is no more than a subjection to certain ignorant cosmic forces , is to indulge in a blind contradiction and to claim the right to lead a double life

Imagination in the mind always exaggerates . Exaggeration is a modification of lie . Aspirants should not exaggerate . They should utter words with mathematical and scientific precision . An aspirant is asked to give up company and observe Mouna .

MahaBhava is a Divine Ecstasy . It shakes the body and mind to their very foundation . It is like a huge elephant entering a small hut . The house shakes to its foundation . Perhaps it falls to pieces .

Athato bhaktim vyakhyasyamah | 1. Now , therefore , we shall teach Bhakti , or the Religion of Divine Love . 2. Now , therefore , I will try to explain the process of devotional service . 3. Now , therefore , the doctrine of devotion we shall expound .

Rama has written in simple language , the ordinary thoughts and ideas that satisfy the mind and show the Divine Vision to the writer both within and without . The whole world shining like the diamond is becoming the Divine Ocean .

OM! In Humans , The Past exists only in memory , which is retention , replaying , reconfiguration of stories , fantasies , fiction ; The Future is expectation and fantasy : These thoughts play in The Present , creating a false sense of continuity of personality — Nothing but DREAMING it is .|| SSSV 32.3 ||